True libertarians believe in leaving people be. The main tenet of libertarianism is personal liberty, which includes right to privacy. Libertarians fight fiercely for keeping the government out of the personal lives of the American citizenry. Ron Paul has claimed time and time again that he is a libertarian, but with a stroke of his pen last Thursday, Paul proved once and for all that he is NOT a libertarian.

Personhood USA has been putting a ton of pressure on the Republican Presidential candidates. Many of the candidates have signed the personhood pledge, which states that “every human being at every stage of development must be recognized as a person possessing the right to life in federal and state laws without exception and without compromise.” In other words, each candidate who has signed the pledge, is promising to ban abortion, thus violating the personal liberty of women everywhere. Last Thursday, Ron Paul signed that pledge.

Ron Paul looks desperate to win the nomination. So desperate, that he is joining the extreme evangelical conservatives, to try and win their support in Iowa and the rest of the country. In doing so, Paul is selling his libertarian soul to the extreme right wing fundamentalist Christians who want to strangle American freedom with an iron fist. He now opposes abortion for any reason and is completely against gay marriage. This goes against libertarian philosophy. Paul has tried to paint himself as the new Barry Goldwater, but Ron Paul is no Goldwater. A true libertarian, Goldwater defended a woman’s right to choose, and supported gay rights.

If Ron Paul were a true libertarian, he would completely support these words spoken by the father of American libertarianism.

“Today’s so-called ‘conservatives’ don’t even know what the word means. They think I’ve turned liberal because I believe a woman has a right to an abortion. That’s a decision that’s up to the pregnant woman, not up to the pope or some do-gooders or the Religious Right. It’s not a conservative issue at all.”
~Barry Goldwater

“It’s time America realized that there is no gay exemption in the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness in the Declaration of Independence.”
~Barry Goldwater

But Ron Paul is of the opposite viewpoint. Paul would harness the government and use it against the people. He would invade our personal lives on the orders of extremists. That alone disqualifies Ron Paul from being President and should make real libertarians and real liberals everywhere, reject him.